What does "deliver" mean?
Deliver: Promise was that I Should Israel from Philistian yoke deliver. Milton.
Additional senses
- 2.To give or transfer; to yield possession or control of; to part with (to); to make over; to commit; to surrender; to resign; -- often with up or over, to or into. Thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand. Gen. xl.
- 3.The constables have delivered her over. Shak. The exalted mind All sense of woe delivers to the wind. Pope.
- 4.To make over to the knowledge of another; to communicate; to utter; to speak; to impart. Till he these words to him deliver might. Spenser. Whereof the former delivers the precepts of the art, and the latter the perfection. Bacon.
- 5.To give forth in action or exercise; to discharge; as, to deliver a blow; to deliver a broadside, or a ball. Shaking his head and delivering some show of tears. Sidney. An uninstructed bowler . . . thinks to attain the jack by delivering his bowl straightforward. Sir W. Scott.
- 6.To free from, or disburden of, young; to relieve of a child in childbirth; to bring forth; -- often with of. She was delivered safe and soon. Gower. Tully was long ere he could be delivered of a few verses, and those poor ones. Peacham.
- 7.To discover; to show. [Poetic] I 'll deliver Myself your loyal servant. Shak.
- 8.To deliberate. [Obs.] Chaucer.
- 9.To admit; to allow to pass. [Obs.] Bacon. Deliver denotes, literally, to set free. Hence the term is extensively applied to cases where a thing is made to pass from a confined state to one of greater freedom or openness. Hence it may, in certain connections, be used as synonymous with any or all of the above-mentioned words, as will be seen from the following examples: One who delivers a package gives it forth; one who delivers a cargo discharges it; one who delivers a captive liberates him; one who delivers a message or a discourse utters or pronounces it; when soldiers deliver their fire, they set it free or give it forth.
- 10.Free; nimble; sprightly; active. [Obs.] Wonderly deliver and great of strength. Chaucer.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00